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Toys 'R Us Being Sued Over Tabeo Tablet Design

At some point, one of these companies in the tech sector is going to have to realize that by launching lawsuit after lawsuit, they make the entire business community look silly. The latest lawsuit was brought against Toys ‘R Us, which is getting set to launch a new tablet that is geared specifically towards children.

Some might assume that one of the companies that currently has an Android (News - Alert) tablet out might have taken offense. It wouldn’t even have been beyond comprehension to see Apple be the culprit. Instead it appears that Toys ‘R Us is being taken to court by another company that made a tablet geared directly to kids. Fuhu says that the toy company ripped off the design of its Nabi and applied the “butterfly” shaped casing to their tablet.

In fact, if any of Fuhu’s claims can be backed up with actual evidence, it appears that the company has every right to enter into litigation with Toys ‘R Us. Fuhu claims that they had produced the first ever Android tablet that was geared toward children and that was offered exclusively through Toys ‘R Us. Fuhu also claims, through the filing that was entered in a San Diego court on Monday, that the Nabi was selling preorders at a rate of 1,000 devices every three hours.

Despite these sales numbers, Fuhu claims that Toys ‘R Us did nothing to promote the tablet and in fact stole the “Butterfly” design of the tablet to make their own Tabeo. Fuhu claims that other parts of the Nabi were also copied thanks in large part to confidential information that the toy company received by being the Nabi’s sole distributor.

Fuhu might not be a name that most people recognize in the tech sector, but the company has the backing of investors from Acer (News - Alert) and Foxconn, so its pockets are far from empty when it comes to having the financial clout needed to see a lawsuit like this through to the end. Perhaps the final slight is the fact that when doing a search for the Nabi on the Toys ‘R Us website, the term returned only the Tabeo and the Nabi is nowhere to be found. Toys ‘R Us has not commented on the suit as they claim they are still reviewing the filing.

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